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Albano, Romina & Family

Here is a holidays greeting card from our land lords at the "Power's Estate". A gated community in Celino San Marco, Italy (past San Pietro Vernotico on the way to Lecce). This is where Kim and I lived from '86-'89 (Contrada Bosco #13, Apt A. Celino S. Marco)).

The Powers' Estate, as the community was known, was owned by Albano Carrisi a famous Italian popstar, (aka Al Bano) and the wife he married in 1970, Romina Power (the daughter of the famous movie actor Tyrone Power and Linda Christian). The estate was huge, there were something like thirty villas and apartments here. Albano and Romina rented the apartments (and Villas) to American servicemen and their families. It was a fantastic place to live. A little American community nestled in the arms of pastoral southern Italy.

Kim and I rented the smallest apartment at the estate. The apartment was as wide as the garage is deep, and it was 4 rooms total (counting the bathroom). There was a waiting list to get into the estate, and Kim and I were glad to live there. The gated community included a fantastic restaurant, a winery, a small chapel, swimming pools, tennis courts, and a huge wildlife preserve. The proximity to other American's helped us immensely, and we loved the place. The apartment was very small, but the rent wasn't. 300,000 lire was a lot of money for an E2.

Each year Albano & Romina would send us a gift and card every Christmass. One year we got a case of wine from the winery. It was a good wine. Not great, a nice table wine.